Small, good reach, quite good IQ when you are smart and lucky—an exceptional value at the sometimes kit-price of $150 with its soulmate, the A6000.

Cons:

No aspect of it is as good as a Canon 6D with the 70-200 2.8 IS II. On the other hand the lens prices are in a ratio of about 12 to 1!

I apologize for not adding much new material to the review of my learned colleague below. But I do want to corroborate and support his thoughts and insights.

Folks who did not buy an A6000 and 55-210 lens for $550 total (I got mine from Adorama, with whom I have no connection) in the recent holiday season are owed a karmic favor by the universe. Congratulations and smiles for those lucky/genius folks who did!

Both A6000 and this lens are very very good overall and excellent value for the money!

Jan 12, 2016

ic2fotoOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jun 19, 2010Location: United StatesPosts: 3

Review Date: Feb 13, 2015

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $150.00
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Small / light weight / good image quality

Cons:

Construction quality is nice for what it is, but probably a lens you could easily damage if you are hard on your equipment. It's also a slow lens and not something you would want for serious sports or wildlife work.

I got this lens for $150 over the holidays with the purchase of an a6000. I generally own/use very good glass, but I don't use long lenses that often and was hoping the 55-210mm would hold me over until I can afford to add a higher end tele-zoom. To my pleasant surprise my copy is quite a good lens and I won't be in any hurry to replace it.

I've only tested it at f/8 on a tripod (because that is how I will use it). Very nice results at all the marked focal lengths w/ 210mm being a little softer at the edges but still quite acceptable. Contrast and color balance on the a6000 are not like a Zeiss lens, but very usable even for critical work.

At $150 I would give the lens a 10+ for value if I could. I've tested a number of lenses costing many multiples of that which were not nearly as good in terms of image quality. Build quality is not like that of a pro lens, but is better than I thought it would be. It is slow (f4.5-6.3) so not a serious lens for sports, but that keeps the size and weight down which is fine for me as I'm primarily a landscape photographer. AF is quick on the a6000 and zooming throughout the range is smooth and easy with about the right amount of resistance.

If this is a lens that suits your work and you can purchase one during a promotion for $250 or less I would absolutely recommend this lens. At the $350 MSRP I would have to give it some additional thought, but like I wrote above – I've tested lenses costing $700-$1200 that have not performed as well.